The invention relates to a cuboid gable package having a flat top and a pouring spout or an adapter for a pouring spout. More particularly, the invention relates to a folded package made from a plastic multi-layer composite deposited on a supporting material, which package is suitable as a liquid and/or food container. The package is formed by folding a blank or tube of package material along longitudinal, transverse and oblique grooves lines for the body, base and gable edges of the package. The flat top is sealed in the gable area by a web seam and has in one corner area a turned-down fold pocket formed from triangular fold tab areas.
In the liquid and food packaging sector, one-way packages of folded cardboard plastic multi-layer composite have in recent years become well established. Such packages permit optimum space utilization on account of their cuboid shape.
These cuboid packages can be divided essentially into three groups;
1. Cuboid flat-top packages with a six-surface body and body walls which are at right angles and parallel to each other. Such packages, which can be produced in a waste-free manner by folding from rectangular blanks or tube sections, guarantee, in addition to an excellent surface/contents ratio, an optimum pallet accessibility and, on account of the flat top, also an optimum stackability (DE-PS 3,439,102).
2. Cuboid gable packages with a five-surface body with body walls at right angles to each other and a folded-out gable with four gable inclines and a vertical web seam. Such packages cannot in every instance be produced in a waste-free manner and, on account of the vertical web seams, they can only be stacked to a limited extent (EP-0,286,313).
3. Cuboid gable packages with a five-surface body with body walls at right angles to each other and a folded-on gable with four gable inclines and a flat top. Such packages cannot in general be produced in a waste-free manner, but nevertheless they guarantee good stackability (GB-PS 973,801).
With the expansion of the market and the introduction of new product groups, it is desirable to provide such packages with, in addition to the normal opening aids such as perforations and tear tabs, also bottle-like, resealable nozzle openings or pouring spouts, as are available on the market in a variety of forms, for example in connection with cans and containers.
Although, in the case of gable packages with inclined gable surfaces, this object is possible on account of the available clearance within the gable surfaces as far as the web seam, either without problems or without further restriction of the already restricted stackability or without additional stacking space (DE 3,039,299 A1; DE 3,842,412 A1, FIG. 28), in contrast, in the case of flat-top packages, this arrangement inevitably leads to protrusion beyond the body dimensions and to considerable stacking problems (DE 3,832,412 A1, FIG. 27).
Although this protrusion can be kept within limits in the case of flat constructions (see EP 0,018,325 and EP 0,081,011), it nevertheless causes problems during stacking and necessitates more or less elaborate precautionary measures. In addition, because there is only a short stream guide, well-aimed pouring is made difficult.
The invention is based on the object of providing a cuboid gable package of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the pouring spout or an adapter for a pouring spout is arranged on the package in such a way that it does not impair the manageability, of the package, in particular the stackability, and is protected from damage.